Lost Cause
by dytuo
Summary: Ikki and Metabee find a severaly damaged medabot who refuses their help or friendship due to a deep grudge against medafighters and their partners. Can their kindness open her eyes? OC x Metabee.
1. Blindly

Hai. Okay, firstly, all that copyright blither, I don't own medabots or the idea, etc etc, it's fanfic blah blah.

Secondly, I'm aware that some content may be false or manipulated – such as making up new medabots. So I don't want to hear anyone being all 'AFJFHSDKFJ YOU DON'T PLUG IT INTO A WALL!"

Ch. 1 !

It was a beautiful summer day, the type where nothing goes wrong and it's not uncommon to see a boy and his medabot walking down the street on the way to visit some friends. That's the picture being painted now as Ikki and Metabee meander casually down the street, yawning even though it's mid day. Ah, July 27th, a few days into 'summer vacation' and the time for sleeping in till noon. Of course, who has time sleeping in till noon when there are bots to battle and parts to win, right?

"Okay, no more of this," Metabee groaned while stretching, "I'm gonna rust if I don't get my hands on some metal soon." Ikki looked down at his part-time friend, part-time annoying room mate, knowing his comment would stoke an always present fire between them if he said it. At times like this, arguing was half fun and always manageable – he just couldn't take it when his bot started disobeying him at crucial moments or in battle. Or when he was in a bad mood.

Right now, he decided not to ruin the atmosphere by making a biting comment about rust, instead putting his hands behind his head and smiling at the sun. It was the perfect temperature.

"I'll bet there are plenty of antsy fighters out today so there's no need to worry," replied Ikki at last, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully as the store came into view. As expected, Erika and her faithful medabot Brass were just outside the door, looking over notes that would doubtlessly lead to a new story. The two waved as Ikki and Metabee approached.

"Hey, what're you two up to?" inquired the black haired boy while his robattle partner picked at a minuscule dent Ikki had missed while fixing his left arm.

"Not much, I'm just going to conduct a survey for fun to see what the biggest issue between Medafighters and their Medabots is. So far it seems to be lack of communication," she snickered knowingly, holding up the testaments of three individuals who she'd already ambushed. "But yours in an exceptional case obviously."

Some part of them despised how other people noticed how they didn't get along together. The comments were repetitive and frequent – can't you control your bot? Man, they don't even listen to each other! Why is he using that hunk of junk? Ikki for one secretly liked how Metabee wasn't just some mindless obedient bot - most of the time. Sure they had their spats, their embarrassing moments, but it was all smooth sailing in the end.

"Ya, ya," Metabee stated off handedly, moving on to his favorite subject. "Anyone come by looking for a scrap?"

"There were a group of young adults with Medabots who seemed rather … feisty," admitted Brass, looking up at a nodding Erika.

"Yep, I asked one to do my survey and he, well, he said no ... adamantly," added Erika with a sage nod as she crossed her arms. Metabee's eyes were round and revealed his delight.

"Ikki, come on! Two against one would be just what I need to wake up again," he stated fiercely, practicing a few punches to vent his enthusiasm. Ikki shook his head.

"You're crazy. We'll see what type they are when we get there and see if it'd be plain suicide going up against them," he said evenly, though the light tone revealed his optimism. Metabee could take on two at once if they worked together. He was confident that he could. With the slim chance that both if not one had extremely powerful medabots as teenagers, the battle became even more enticing. "Let's go."

"All right!" exclaimed the hercules beetle type machine, darting off down the road with his medafighter hot on his heels. Erika and Brass stared.

"They weren't even paying attention when I said 'group' did they?"

"Nope."

"I'd say about eight?"

"I think seven, maybe you counted that massive Pentarot as a human?"

"Maybe."

___________________________________________

Okay, end of the chapter. Reviews = more chapters. This is really a nostalgic writing project because I was all ' omg, used to watch this when I was 11' and it was a huge deal bc I loved it. I've already written all the chapters so ya, no random droppage of the story.


	2. Dangerfate

Finding the cluster of Medafighters wasn't difficult – they left anxious bystanders in their wake and made plenty of noise as they moved throughout the block. Metabee was the first to pick up on their exact whereabouts and rounded the corner with his guns ready to aim and fire. It sounded like they were already in a fight, a bi gone. Hey, if there was a fray you could count him in. The bot lowered his guns and straightened in shock as he caught sight of the going-on, causing Ikki to run into him and faceplant off to the side.

"What is your probl-!" Ikki snapped agitatedly, dusting off his chin, but then he looked up and his own expression morphed to match Metabee's. Ahead, not a block away, there was a hustle of bodies and glints of metal shinning in between the legs. "Looks like they've already got something going on," Ikki murmured as he leaned rolled into a seated position and rubbed his elbow. "Oh well, we'll just have to go after the winner, won't we?" Metabee nodded, crossing his arms impatiently. The two stared at the commotion for only five seconds before they realized something wasn't right. "This… doesn't look like a real battle."

"Ya, where's the ref?"

"Well, there's something happening… lets be cautious."

The two got up and slowly moved closer, gradually getting close enough that they could see flashes of metal and gradually some fast moving outlines. They stopped about five feet behind the shortest individual, who didn't take note of their presence, and both faces dropped when they saw exactly what the 'fun' was. In the middle of everything there was a single medabot, surrounded by a variety of others, all of which were taking shots in turn.

"Come on Dytuo, turn it to scrap, I'm getting bored," said one medafighter in the crowd, and a tall broad shouldered bot moved forward to swipe at the victim bot's unprotected back. Within the mere moments that Ikki and Metabee approached, recoiled, and were cemented to the spot with anger, it was easy to see the tactics. Every time the fast moving but increasingly injured medabot turned, the opponent behind it took a shot. It was clear that anywhere the prey, still crowded and still whirling on its aggressors so fast you could only see a brown blur, wasn't able to look, it was getting injured. Metabee and Ikki didn't linger – obviously someone and their bot were being gange dup on and they did not tolerate unfair fights.

"Huh-ey!"shouted Metabee mid-exertion, taking a leap through the barrier of legs without any encouragement from his medafighter. Ikki closed in on the group from behind, bringing his watch up to his mouth. "Metabee, get them to back off and spread out, and I can't even see what you're doing," he commanded, and retreated a few steps as the crowd immediately backed up with a sudden flush of shots. Several teens looked back at the black haired boy, then stepped back to allow him a clear view, all of them smirking.

"So, you want to get crushed too?" sneered someone from the seven, and it was becoming clear that he was in part right. Metabee's chest plate already had a sizeable dent in it, though it seemed not have registered on his watch as more than five percent damage – probably because that was his strongest armor. Ikki was finally allowed a glimpse at the bot who'd been in the middle of everything – a svelte, chocolate brown wolf type medabot with a silver core frame. Its eyes were an electric blue, though dimmed with power loss. All details were lost for the moment, because soon enough it was darting around again, noiseless – it seemed to have lost the use of its guns and was now relying on the double blades equipped to its right forearm.

The attackers seemed less intent on destroying the bots now that they weren't such easy targets. Though weakened, the wolf type was still savagely matching blows and even advancing on enemies – Metabee, meanwhile, fired at random, at ease. He was at full power and even picking on a vastly outnumbered bot can be energy consuming – the others, judging on their speed, were probably dipping at half.

"Metabee, take on that S-" Ikki started, but was cut off when a wild screech split the air. All movement seemed to stop as a robotic head rolled across the ground to his feet – a green one. He glanced at the brown medabot immediately, who was just dancing away from a falling body, shaking as it lost complete function of its left arm. No one moved after this – the owner of the decapitated bot moved forward wearily to collects its medal, then turned and fled, which brought the count down to six mildly tired bots against one fully charged one and one seemingly insane one. The rest retreated with maddening indifference, leaving their comrade's medabot to crumple. Just a replacable body to them, right?

"Good job Metabee," Ikki praised directly to his companion now that the noise had died down. He looked either way to make sure the vandals were gone, then shot a glance at the wolf medabot. There were . . . no medafighters left to claim it. Had they run away when the going got rough, leaving their bot to suffer the consequences of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? He doubted it. Maybe he hadn't noticed and the gang of ne'er do goods had taken them hostage as they fled. Also another slim possibility. He advanced to Metabee to assess the damage first and foremost, but kept his sights on the shuddering brown bot. The yellow beetle type's green eyes were trained on the critically injured fighter all the while and when Ikki was done, he stepped forward.

Ikki straightened upon watching his companion move toward the still unmoving figure. "Where's your medafighter?" inquired Ikki loudly, in case its hearing sensors were damaged. He stepped forward but stopped when the medabot suddenly raised his head with unexpected speed

"D..n't c..m.. n....r m-me!" it snarled as its remaining visible eye narrowed aggressively, trying to stand straight as excess electricity crackled in the air. Where the left perceptive sensor would have been there was a long scratch that ran from the top of the tinpet's head to its cheek. The voice was tell tale feminine, but broken – probably due to a damaged voice chip. The anger and desperation was still fairly evident however, and Ikki didn't move forward more. Metabee, however, stepped forward without heeding the resulting noise - an alarmingly feral snarl.

"Metabee…" Ikki warned, frowning as the bot began to shake more violently as his medabot approached.

"Hey, don't worry, everything's fine now. We can help fix you," reasoned the yellow machine with a touching show of concern. He only got a few more steps before the wolf type struck out at him with a glinting but chipped silver blade.


	3. Talkback

It scored a deep scratch across his chest cavity armor and Metabee stopped momentarily, just in time to watch the fembot whirl and dart down the path to the park. While Metabee got over the momentary shock of the surprise attack, Ikki advanced past him and headed off at a run down the path.

"Ikki!" Ikki stopped.

"What? Come on, we can't lose the trail!"

"Why do you want to find the trail?"

"What do you mean why, she's gonna drop if we don't get her!"

"She doesn't want our help! I just put my butt on the line and she pulls a dirty move like that!"

"Metabee, she's in shock, maybe there are some circuits loose."

"Oh, I don't doubt it."

"Come on," the boy snapped angrily and finally his medabot followed. The two sped down the trail until they came to a fork, at which point they split without a word.

Metabee threw himself down the increasingly narrow dirt path and gradually into the woods when he caught sight of fresh foot prints in loose earth. At one point he got so close that he was watching leaves rustle ahead of him and yet he simply couldn't get the horribly damaged back in his sights. After a while the movement ahead stopped and he figured he must have lost whatever he was chasing, if that even the bot he'd just saved. Then he heard a low hum in the air the indicated electricity. Then he heard the most unattractive noise – a ridiculously loud grinding noise that honestly sounded like someone was hammering an unforgiving bit of wood at insane speeds. A… generator?

It didn't take much to find out where the noise was coming from. Metabee launched through the trees, stumbled gracelessly over some shrubs and ended up in a small clearing where the first thing he saw was the generator vibrating in the grass. It was rusty and smeared with dirt but clanking away steadily. The hercules beetle type approached wearily, scanning the area but spotting no movement. The area was well worn, the grass ground down or else flattened. Metabee only had a few moments to wander before a ton of metal hit him squarely in the back and sent him forward and flat. Instinctively the medabot tilted his forearms back over his shoulder tin, ready to fire at what had pinned him down, but as soon as he'd done so they were pushed forward and weighed down by two robotic hands. With brown forearmor. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was.

"I-i-ikki!" Metabee yelled, his voice stuttering as he put the extra power into lifting himself up with doubled weight. With a burst of energy he rolled and put the bot flat on her back, but he hadn't considered the position very thoroughly – she kicked upward and sent him skybound; he landed several feet away, but spun around and gained his footing in time to see her legs drop, darkening with lack of energy. Growing confident as her condition deteriorated, the yellow bot advanced with his gun aimed squarely on the wolf type's head. The one working sensor eyed him with open distaste and anger. It glowed only a fraction brighter than earlier.

"G..t l..st!" howled the brown fembot, lifting her one working arm and lashing pointlessly at the deft Metabee, who wasn't within range to begin with. With one swift movement the beetle type put his foot on the sword arm, then knelt and aimed the guns on his forearms right into the working optic.

"Give me a break," muttered Metabee as her vocal chip sparked and emitted a strangled groan, perhaps unintentionally. "Ikki, I'm good. Found her. Go down my route for about a kilometer then turn right into the bush. Follow the sound of the generator."

"Generator?" Ikki asked inside Metabee's head.

"I don't know."

There was a deal of movement under his foot. Somehow, the almost entirely malfunctioning bot still had the energy, not to mention the gall, to try and topple him. With a quit-wasting-my-time groan, the hercules type bot leaned down and grabbed the opposite shoulder of the fembot, releasing her sword arm only so he could roll her over onto her front and access her medal. "Now what…" began Metabee quizzically, ignoring the rattles and last flickering noises of the voice chip as well as the weak struggling. Her medal encasement had been welded shut. An illegal modification on any bot.

"Get the hell off me you ba-!" came a sudden shout from below before it was reduced to static once again. Metabee merely replaced a foot in the middle of her back while her one functioning limb flailed uselessly without much vigor. Ikki suddenly appeared through the bushes, panting, and stumbled over to where his bot had easily conquered the bad tempered one.

"Her case is welded shut."

"Well then where the heck is her power outlet?"

"Search me. Or her, I guess."

"FZZZKYXZZ"

"…well it's got to be somewhere. She looks pretty banged up, do you think it'd be okay just to take her or should we cease function first."

Metabee shrugged. Either way, he only hoped she would be more appreciative of their help in whatever way it came – afterall, he'd taken a few good shots and if he knew anything about Ikki then the fembot would take first priority. The wolftype had gone silent now and its badly damaged but still working sword arm was lifeless. The optic sensor had gone out. Both listened closely, hearing the electric thrum still active ein her body. "Power conservation mode," both agreed simultaneously, and then Ikki picked up the bot in his arms and began the long trek home, Metabee at his side and commenting on how good he'd been in battle. His bragging wasn't uncalled for. Though his mind was on other matters at the moment, Ikki had registered the excellent performance by his bot – surrounded by six opponents and they'd scared them off with the help of only one nearly dead bot. He'd have to give him the first turn on the gamesystem once they got home.

Okay kids, thanks for the one review, sorry for the wait! More R&R pahleaseee, and give me your input! BTW, I draw these guys too so keep a watch in the next chapter for some links to sketches, 'screenshots' and etc on my DA account.


	4. Whiplash

Once they were home, Metabee made sure Ikki was alright with making the first of many adjustments to the fembot before retiring to play with Salty and work off some excess energy. The young boy knocked on the damaged head of the remaining bot and to his surprise the good optic lit up, then narrowed. The wolftype sat up immediately and raised the sword arm at Ikki, an obvious defensive warning. Ikki held up his hands in appeasement.

"Hey, it's all good. Where's your power plug?"

The bot continued glaring.

Ikki pointed to where Metabee's power station was hooked into the wall. The bot followed his hand wearily, gave a jolt and immediately reached for the plug, Then it dropped the plug, lifted up a section of metal on its hip to reveal what would have been the upper outer thigh in human anatomy as well as a socket that would normally have been in her medal case. As soon as the bot let go of the flap to reach for the plug, it dropped. It lifted the flap back up, then reached for the plug again, and the same thing happened. Unable to use her other arm, this continued as increasingly agitated whirring noises started up. Ikki tried not to grin – the toughbot attitude just wasn't as effective in situations like this. He knelt down and got a sword aimed at his face again, but he lowered it with his own two hands as the joints groaned in complaint.

"Listen, I'm just plugging this in for you." The bot slowly stopped putting effort into its arm, at which point Ikki lifted the flap with one hand and plugged in the socket with the other. "There," said the kid with a grin, "In a few hours-" Jab. Ikki stopped mid sentence, following the sword that had whipped out again. It prodded his chest, not hard enough to cut but clearly a warning to get back, and so he did. The dim blue eyes weren't narrowed, which he took to be a good thing. Then suddenly there was a hum of electricity and the lights in his house dimmed as her own lit up, a brighter blue than he'd ever seen. Then, with a tired gasp, all the noise in the house stopped, and all the lights were out. The radio was off, the tv was out , and the only lighting was from the sun outside. Had… had it actually sucked the power out of his house?

Ikki, despite being unsure whether or not to leave the bot alone or not, booked it down the stairs to flip the breakers, each and every one. The lights turned on, then dimmed again but didn't shut off. He retired to his room again, where the fembot sat complacently enough, her eyes rapidly regaining real life. Though her parts regained their light chocolate color they crackled and let off escaping electricity. Downstairs the door slammed, announcing Metabee's return. He heard his medabot tromping up the stairs complaining as usual.

"Why do those little monsters have to have a water balloon fight out side your house, they don't even live on the same blo-…oh," finished the yellow machine, quieting as he opened the door. The sword arm shot out, almost accusingly as the eyes narrowed, and Ikki held up his hands.

"No, no, he helped you, remember?" The sword moved to point at his face, at which point Metabee moved forward with a growl.

"Put it down or I'll make you," warned the bot as he raised his firing arm, and the wolftype narrowed its electric gaze further, shuddering as it struggled to get up and return the challenge. Now it had power but its parts were still useless, which seemed to infuriate her judging by the rapid whizzing from the voice chip and the violent shaking.

"We have to fix you before we let you leave," stated Ikki firmly, and the fembot's one eyed gaze met his own as her sword lowered. Ikki stared at her contemplatively for a moment, almost hearing the words the aggressive bot would have said. 'I don't accept charity' or something angry like that. In this case, however, she didn't have much of a choice – unless she wanted to escape by dragging herself along on one arm, she wasn't going anywhere. "You need new parts, which I can order if you don't mind waiting a few days…" The expected angry clicks came. Ikki huffed. "Metabee?"

"Listen," snapped the hercules beetle type while lowering his firearm, "If you let him fix you up and take you to a mechanic he'll let you go asap. If you fight then you'll be stuck here until you give in, and you do not want to be here for long. He's very annoying, and I'm probably the only Medabot with enough patience to stick with him."

"That was so inspirational Metabee, why don't you keep going…"

"And he snores."

"Awesome. Anything else?"

The fembot wasn't glaring any more but rather staring wide eyed. What idiots, you could almost hear her thinking.

"So do you mind if I help you? I can't take care of this kind of damage myself, I'm going to need a professional Medabot Mechanic." The bot merely stared, then unplugged herself from the wall. I'll take that as a yes, thought Ikki, then slowly leaned forward and took the nearly demolished bot in his arms. Chips fell away as she was lifted.

The trek to the mechanic's, a small homey shop not a block from Henry's, was short. Ikki had been expecting the myriad of questions from people he passed but once the bot started getting antsy he was forced to cut people off and continue on. Once in the shop, the fembot became increasingly anxious, shifting around as much as her mangled body would allow. Metabee crossed his arms, though kept his comments to himself. Robbie came through the door way while wiping his hands on an oil rag, and greeted the familiar pair with a grin. Then he caught a glimpse of the hunk of metal in the boy's arms.

"Whose bot is this?"

"We don't know. It was in a fight against a whole group-"

"And I saved the day, as usual!"

There were some humorously snarky sounding whirs from the fembot.

"Yikes… I dunno how much I can do with the parts left guys, you may just need to order a new body."

"N-n-nic-no!" came the suddenly urgent voice of the wolftype. Metabee snorted.

"It's not a huge deal, getting a new body, relax," he grumbled before shouting out in protest as the sword arm swung down to knock him one and missed.

"The medal is welded inside the case," stated Ikki and Robbie shook his head, taking the fembot across the counter and turning her over. The arm started waving wildly, knocking over a pencil holder and a calculator. Ikki held it down, grinning apologetically. Robbie looked at him almost disdainfully, then pulled out a drawer from under the cash register while grumbling about badly trained something or rathers. He withdrew a sort of two tipped prong.

"Now, this won't hurt a bit!" he announced to the still wiggling wolf bot. He touched it to the back of the machine's neck and with a crackle, the fembot went ballistic. Even the once functionless arm started to twitch pathetically. Robbie frowned, eyes wide, then made an adjustment on the wand before repeating the process. Same result but stronger now.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Ikki while putting all his weight on the arm and core cavity of the fembot.

"It should have shorted her circuits!"

Robbie made a dramatic twisting movement on the prod's settings dial then repeated the short touch for a final time, and then the brown medabot's body went limp.

"Okay kids, here we go," said Robbie while wiping his forehead. "That was weird, normally it only takes second notch to short 'em. Follow me."

Ikki and Metabee followed him into the messy back room, where Rob strapped the bot to a working table on her front. He set manipulating the botched welding job and after a few minutes of heat, 'hmm's and muttering the back popped open. The mechanic grabbed the medal as it popped into his hand, then handed it to Ikki. The boy debated putting it into his watch or not because he wasn't quite sure what the fembot would have to say if she finally got the chance to speak. He sunk to floor while Rob got to work, putting the medal in his watch against his better judgment while Metabee approached curiously. All was silent besides the clinks from the table as things got sorted out. They could hear Rob murmuring about extreme damage and whistling whenever he found something particularly mutilated.

Suddenly the watch lit up. There was a stream of loud, incoherent yelling at which point Ikki covered the speakers on the watch with his hand.

"And you're always complaining that I'm a hassle," grumbled the yellow bot as he leaned against the wall. After a few moments it quieted a notch and Ikki took the chance to uncover the speakers.

***

Hey all! Wow, sorry for my long not-writing stint. I've got a fair few concept drawings that I could post up once I get a scanner, buuut that could take a while. Anyways, reviews are adored as always – I'm trying not to make anything really stereotypical or MS-ish, so just give me a smackdown if it's heading that way. Tata till next week!


	5. Bywander

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, MESSING WITH MY BODY-"

"We're fixing it!" snapped Metabee agitatedly.

"I DON'T NEED FIXING, I NEVER GAVE YOU PERMISSION."

"You couldn't even talk!"

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT."

"Ikki, I hope you're watching this because I'm never going to let you forget this eye opening experience. If you ever say I'm being stupid…"

"HEY, ASSHOLE, I'M STILL HERE."

"REALLY? DAMN, AND HERE I THOUGHT I WAS TALKING TO A WALL. "

"Metabee, you're arguing with my watch . . ."

"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET-"

Ikki had stepped forward, raising his watch to his mouth as Rob shot him an annoyed glance. "If you don't stop yelling, I'm going to have to eject your medal entirely and then you won't be able to hear OR see what's going on."

"Fine."

"Ooh, tame as a kitty cat."

"I hope you never plan on sleeping after I get my body back."

"Thanks for the offer, but you're not my type."

"Man, you've been listening in on ten year olds haven't you? Explains a lot."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I THINK YOU KNOW."

"YOU CAN THINK?"

"FASTER THAN YOU, OBVIOUSLY."

"FASTER THAN I CAN PUT A FIST SHAPED DENT IN YOUR BODY?"

There was more loud shouting. Ikki wondered if the shebot would actually blow the speakers with her next heated reply. He took off his watch and tossed it to Metabee, then pointed to the door. The yellow beetle bot was hollering at it and receiving inflexible replies all the way out the door.

"You know Ikki, I can make her functional but it's really the best idea to order more parts in. I've never seen this model before which makes me wonder if it's been modified from a different dog type bot to adopt feral characteristics. I mean, look at the feet," Robbie stated, picking up one leg to show Ikki the bottom of the foot. "Look at the scratches and paint chipping. This thing is used to being in the wild for long periods of and I don't know a single bot that's built to stay out in the elements without conditioning. Without a medafighter to tune up and make sure no rust developed, a Medabot couldn't last more than a month completely functional."

"She was using a generator to keep herself powered up."

"A generator?" repeated Rob, wide eyed. "Ikki, look at her core. No wonder it took notch four to knock her out, the power capacity here is what we're only beginning to see in the industry's most expensive top notch models . . . but that doesn't make sense.

This tinpet model has got to be about as old as Metabee's, maybe a shake newer. I think it's been modified somewhere along the line. Damn, I'd love to have a gander at this but I don't want to poke at anything I don't know about."

"Listen, just get my limbs going, fix my optic and anywhere I can't reach and I can do the rest myself!" Metabee looked moodily dazed as he reappeared with the watch, always an indicator of a drawn out argument that he hadn't been satisfied with. Not always a sign that he had lost but that he wasn't content with the responses he'd received, Ikki didn't prod to find out but rather took the watch back.

"I don't have any orders in till later this afternoon so come back in two hours or so and I'll have you in stable condition," replied Robbie, wiping his hands on a nearby rag. The wolfbot's chest had been opened up and the once neat arrangement of wires looked fried and jumbled. "I'm fast," he promise upon hearing a doubtful growl. "Two hours."

Two hours passed very quickly. Ikki had never heard Metabee bicker with someone so incessantly, and not the friendly banter (okay, friendly banter is stretching it) he was constantly engaged in. Upon finding Erika and Brass, the fembot seemed to be a different bot altogether. With the sound of female voices she was inquisitive, calmer.

"What's her name?" Brass asked. Whoops, realized Metabee and Ikki, never thought to ask.

"Terror-Wulf," the watch replied bluntly.

"Shortened to Terra?" Metabee asked mockingly.

"No, shortened to Kiss My Ass."

"You know, Ikki takes his watch off at night and it would be soo easy . . . the ocean is riiight around the corner…"

"Oh, Metabee…" murmured Brass disapprovingly.

"Wulf," the fembot stated from the watch.

"Masculine. Suites you."

"Brass, might I borrow your body for about half a minute? I promise, that's all it'll take."

Cue yelling match. Metabee played dirty: he could mute the watch.

Erika crossed her arms, biting the pencil she kept on her at all times. "This is strange . . . an old model of medabot with a newly engineered system. Well that means she had some medafighter at one point. This is a story waiting to happen . . . I wonder who would've thrown away something like this!"

"You don't know the half of it. I don't doubt she was at ten percent overall power when she ripped the head off a Pteronoct."

"Probably something to do with that core capacity you mentioned earlier."

"Maybe… well, we're just heading on over to Robbie's, you wanna tag along?"

"Would I ever! I want to get a few shots of this mystery body."

Somewhere along the path, Ikki popped open his watch without warning and took out the medal. Metabee, Brass and Erika eyed him in askance. "I didn't think to check before but look!" He held out the medal for the other three to see. A half moon was curving around the green center part and there was a triangle on the other side. "As unique as the body," Ikki exclaimed, placing the medal back into the watch. "Wulf, where's your medafighter?" Perfect silence met his ears. "Wulf?"

"I don't have one."

"But you had one at one point."

"I am a free medabot, unmastered by you mindless humans!"

The four physical beings looked up at each other in shock, exchanging confused glances.

"Wulf-"

"Silence!"

The powerful emotion put into the reply stifled further questions for the moment. Even Metabee took the hint of a sore spot and didn't comment then and there. The party of four plus the stonily silent watch made the rest of the way to the mechanic's in peace, sticking to small talk that didn't include the bot.

When they stepped in the door, Terror-Wulf's body was standing next to the counter and Robbie was just polishing the left forearm. He'd replaced the blades with new silver ones on the right forearm, and the dents were gone from the rest of the tinpet for the most part.

"It's a shade darker because there was no exact match on hand, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem?" The watch didn't speak up so it seemed to be alright – Ikki ejected the medal from his wrist and popped it into the tinpet, closed the lid, and stepped back. Nothing happened. They waited a few moments. No lights lit up, no stirring, nothing. Robbie gave the lifeless metal body a hard look, then gave it a whack on the back. Terror-Wulf sprang to life, electric blue eyes aglow, and rose into a straighter position before looking around the room bewilderedly. What, Metabee wondered agitatedly, you were expecting a deathpit? Everyone watched, anticipating a surprise. The bot flexed its fingers, then went about testing out the many other joints she had. Ikki took the moment to speak with Robbie.

"Thanks a lot. Hey, her medal is a moon on one side and an inverted triangle, do those sound familiar to you?"

"I can't say they are, sorry Ikki. I'd probably have a better idea if I got a look at it but I think she's gone through enough trauma for today. I'll do it when the parts come in. Any idea how you're paying for this? I'd love to do it for free but most I can do is knock off the paintjob and give you a discount for being a loyal customer. The parts are all up to you."

Ikki cringed, not having thoroughly considered just how expensive it would be. By the looks of it, the arms would need more work as it was and the legs ultimately needed to be replaced lest she risk losing power to them without notice. Maybe he could ask his parents . . . or . . .

"Are you buying parts right now?"

Metabee immediately whirled, obviously furious. "You are NOT selling my parts Ikki!"

"Not yours, just the ones we've won that we don't use!"

"Well what if WE END UP NEEDING THEM AND WE'VE WASTED THEM ON THIS HUNK-" Metabee's flailing wrath was cut off when he was knocked to the ground, and the attention of the store occupants turned on Wulf as her heels disappeared out the door.

Erika was the first to snap out of the daze. "Brass, go get that bot! But be as gentle as you can~" Brass only hesitated with a quizzical aura to her for a moment before retreating out the door in hot pursuit of the damaged bot. Ikki whirled on Metabee.

"See, now look what you've done! Go after her!"

"What?! How is this my fault?!"

"You were being pigheaded and rude!"

"I'm not the one helping someone wh-!"

A voice chimed in on Erika's watch.

"Her legs broke again."

Robbie crossed his arms, then retreated to the back.

Brass was just returning around the corner, obviously struggling with a dead weight Medabot. Maybe now she gets that we need to help her, pondered Ikki with a frown on his face, kneeling as Erika's bot inched through the doorway. "Listen to me. If you don't stop struggling and running away and misbehaving, we can't do anything for you. Your parts will be here in a few days but until then you're fragile, okay?" Ikki stated firmly, but not without warmth. Metabee grumbled. Brass, after much effort, set the bot upright. Robbie returned from the shop with a wire in his hand.

"I had the nagging suspicion she'd need the three millimeter . . . man, haven't had to use one of those in a while." He stated, and did not elaborate despite the curious eyes on him, instead leaning down, fiddling around with something or rather and making quick work of replacing the wire. He held up the other one rather confusedly, revealing that the brand new wire was now black and brittle. The plastic coating had been burned off. Just then the bell to the shop rang and a boy with a vibrating Nyquatch came in. "I-I think he blew a fuse or something!" he groaned, and this signaled the time to leave for the rest of the troop now that there was another priority. They piled out of the shop and completed the trek back to Ikki's house. Terror-Wulf seemed infinitely calmer, though walked behind the four at a distance.

***

Sorry for my crappy uploading schedule guys =[ school is really busy. Thanks so much for the reviews 3 btw, please tell me if this starts getting phoney or anything starts irking you. I know I start to ramble if I write too long but I do like when stories unfold instead of just wham bam exam etc.

I'll update this again before Christmas!

PS: Would you guys like a Christmas interlude? Kindof a break from the [nonexistent for now D=] plotline and just a scene with everyone all happy[ish?] ?


	6. Author's note 1

**Sup.** I'm back-a-lacka! You know, being a grad has me pooped. I'm working a bunch, doing some volunteering, but during this I've still been writing - and I think I've gotten better. Looking back on these chapters, I see a lot of easy mistakes and some corny writing: I'll try to keep that out of the next chapter, which is coming tomorrow. I love your reviews - they warm me up =) About the Metabee x Brass comment ... you may not be so disappointed. Read on!

I'm trying to keep Terror-Wulf non-sue. I hate that stuff. If you see any leaking in, print this out and whack me with it like a newspaper, cause I would be embarrassed!

OH and now I'll be bolding text.

**Hints:** Next chapter - sprinklers, face plants, cutsey-wootsey (but just kidding?), and The Screws.


	7. Biodaunt

Five individuals, three clunking, tromped through the front door of the Tenryo household.

**"Hi mom!**" shouted Ikki experimentally, but no one answered. He checked the shoe rack and noted that her loafers were gone, meaning she was probably out getting something from the store. Salty, however, marched up to the group with a welcoming wag of his tail. Before they could kick off their shoes, Terror-Wulf was ahead of them and kneeling, patting the dog on its head. Salt huffed, enjoying the attention, and then moved off to go doze on the welcome mat.

**"You like dogs?"** Erika inquired with a gentle smile, curious of the dimensions between the wolf medabot and a 'similar' species.

Wulf didn't look back before standing again and moving forward cautiously. **"All animals."**

Ikki shot a look at Erika, who didn't seem phased by the lack of conversation. Boy, it sure wasn't going to be easy living with this one ... having Metabee was enough!

The brown bot looked wearily around the kitchen, almost as if experiencing the surroundings for the first time. She opened cupboards, checked out the fridge, and, with a bit of a stretch, fiddled with the taps on the sink. Suddenly the bot flinched with a yelp, a rise of electricity passing briefly over her head. With a shudder, the wolfbot turned around, scowling.

**"Something's different, _what's_ different!"** Wulf snarled, her tinpet quivering at short intervals.

It took a moment for any of the four still emerging from the doorway to notice anything. Ikki picked up on it first.

**"Uh, your left eye is green."**

Terror-Wulf paused, lifting her robotic hand half way up, as if ready to touch it, before turning away. The newly heterochromatic bot continued on through the house, grumbling faintly.

Metabee, Brass, Erika and Ikki spread out - Ikki went for the lemonade, while Erika took a seat on a chair at the table. The two humans were sweating, and the two medabots weren't feeling so slick either with their systems overheating. Erika felt Brass's armor as she passed to go sit on the couch, giving a 'yeeeouch!' as she swiped her hand away.

**"Brass, you could fry an egg! Ikki, why's the air conditioning not on?**"

What had felt like a cool retreat upon entering the house was now marginally less hot than outside. Ikki listened intently, and, upon hearing no whirr, abandoned the quest for lemonade to go and search out the problem. Erika sighed, got up, and began making the same drinks. Until she heard a roar of agony from down stairs.

**"Ikki?!"** Metabee asked, turning to go and see what was the matter - but that was when Ikki came slumping up the stairs.** "Dad ... took the air conditioner ... to his office!"** Wailed the young medafighter. Erika groaned, and Metabee sighed.

**"I've got an idea. Lets put the sprinklers on and jump through them, okay? It won't be so bad. But after drinks. I'm thirsty."**

Ikki grinned. **"Good idea! Metabee, wanna go set that up?"**

Metabee grumbled about slavery and over heating, but made to go toward the sliding door - when it slid open. Terror-Wulf stepped through it an out to the yard, giving the slightly yellowing grass a good once over before taking a seat on the lowest step, chin in her hands.

**"Grump,"** Metabee commented upon passing.

**"Pet,"** replied the rogue.

Metabee scowled, walking over to the tap. The twirling sprinkler began spinning, releasing gentle streams into the grass. Metabee immediately walked over and took a seat, steam rising off his armor as water peppered the yellow paint.

Brass appeared through the door. **"Erika and Ikki are finishing their drinks and then coming out,"** the sailor-type stated dutifully, scooting around the unenthusiastic wolf type and approaching the soaking Medabot. She took a seat next to the beetle type and sighed contentedly as the water hit her. **"This is better..."**

**"You're telling me ..."**

Caught up in the moment of bliss, Metabee looked over at the pouting Wulf before laying back.

**"You know, we don't bite ... Come on in, you know you're hot too. You know, in the temperature way."**

Wulf stared at him as though he'd turned purple.

Then she raised one arm and casually shot just ahead of Metabee's foot, effectively startling him up and cutting off the end of the hose. The spiralling water slumped and stopped. Water spewed from the new hose opening.

**"What is your DEAL?!"** Metabee snarled, standing. Brass remained sitting, hesitant. Ooh, Erika wouldn't want them tearing apart Ikki's yard ...

**"Please, let's all calm down," **she quietly tried to persuade them, but it was a bit late - Wulf had stood as well, though didn't seem intent on rising to the challenge. The she-bot glanced at the two before casually moving off and examining the garden's contents - a few widely spaced flowers. Mrs. Tenryo had only finished the front yard so far.

The sienna brown medabot kneeled and gingerly fiddled with some dead leaves - and, upon lifting one radar antennae in the form of a long, slender but not unsightly 'ear' tilting up from her helm, turned.

In time to get a blast of water to the visor, naturally.

With a yowl like a banshee, Wulf leapt to the side, barely keeping ahead of the vast spray now trailing her as Metabee struggled not to wind himself up in the remaining hose. One of his metal fingers was pressed firmly over the end, forcing the pressure to direct the water out like some sort of endless super soaker from hell.

**"Metabee!" **Brass warned loudly, panicking - Wulf ran past the gaping doorway, and the water followed her ... shooting into the house so far it almost hit Salty, who was waiting for Mrs. Tenryo on the welcome mat.

**"Oh sh-"** yelped Metabee, green eyes wide against the black backdrop. His gaze drifted menacingly to Wulf, who laughed openly at his dismay.

**"Ikki ... is gonna rip us apart!"**

Brass fidgeted. She hated being in moments where she could be assumed as one of the troublemakers.

Metabee raised his arm in a moment of irritation, aiming the laser cannon barrel at the now solidly standing Medabot.

Wulf lunged, unable to resist the call to battle, Brass tried to move in front, but Metabee advanced in hopes of protecting the sailor-type.

Of course, as in in slow motion, all three landed in heaps with nothing to show for their efforts. The water and fine silt had made perfect mud amidst the grass.

Wulf was up first, sending a hasty and badly aimed shot for the rolling yellow bot. He avoided it, and helped Brass up and away, smeared with mud along his side. He fired a round and caught his opponent on top of the shoulder - made only possible because she was mid-leap and about to seize his midsection. The two went flying, absolutely filthy, and created something of a dent in the ground a few feet away. They scuffled for a moment, tangled and caught in each other's armor, when suddenly Ikki's voice came bursting out of the entryway.

**"What is going on h-!"**

Obviously he hadn't noticed the water all over the kitchen floor, because Ikki, in his swimming trunks and half way out the door, took a slip and landed face-first into the floor.

The fight stopped for a moment, both Medabots pausing to see the outcome. Ikki slowly raised his head to reveal a long red mark. His eyes were aflame with a curious craze.

**"Met..a.._BEE_!"**

Ikki lunged for his beetle-type. Metabee panicked and aimed the hose for his fighter's leaping form. A jet of water caught the kid in the face, but due to gravity and momentum, he still got the better end of the deal - Metabee was plunged into mud along with the black haired boy. Both of them growled, each trying to push the other away, but soon it turned to laughter and it was eventually evident that they weren't angry. Erika appeared in the doorway, carefully avoiding the slick tiles, and looked to Brass, who was mostly clean.

**"Where's Wulf?"**

Metabee and Ikki stopped mid-action, blinking. Not again. A quick glance around the yard said all that needed to be said. The wolf-type was gone.

* * *

The brown bot skidded around the corner, panting. She watched the house at a distance just long enough to see the kids emerge from the door, muddy and obviously searching for her. Terror-Wulf retreated, stepping backwards in an attempt to keep them in her sights. That was when she backed into another pair of human legs.

Samantha turned, looking to see who'd bumped her. Upon spotting the medabot, she scowled.

**"Huh! A medabot. Who's your fighter?"**

Wulf stood silent, perplexed. Almost like an animal playing dead, she prayed this human would leave her be if she didn't answer. Instead, Samantha leaned down and inspected the bot with an thoroughness that had the bot scowling and stepping back.

**"You gonna answer?"**

Suddenly Spyke appeared from the gate Wulf hadn't noticed before. An unfamiliar bot followed him, blue and armed. **"Sorry it took so long Boss! Krosserdog accidentally put it in my Mathematics binder. It's done thou- whoa!" **Spyke stepped back. **"Wow Boss, Peppercat looks different!"**

**"It's not Peppercat you moron!"** Samantha snarled furiously. **"It's someone else's medabot."**

Spyke gave an 'oh', then leaned forward over the wolf-type to examine the newcomer. **"Looks like a weird version of Cog-Lupos, kinda. Anyways, new bot, I'm Spyke, and this is Krosserdog."**

Krosserdog bent in a light bow. **"Nice to meet you."**

Terror-Wulf barely managed a nod. She looked over her shoulder to try and see the two humans with their medabots, and could have sworn she saw a glint of yellow. **"I'm ... I'm lost. I don't know where my medafighter is. She's a girl with ... brown, curly hair." **That sounded pretty non-descript. Samantha took note of this.

**"Hmm, plenty of those around. What's her name?"**

Oops, forgot to mention. What kind of Medabot didn't know her fighter's name?** "An...nie."**

Samantha looked thoughtful. Spike seemed more interested in the new wolf-type.

**"You robattle before?"** He asked mischeivously, eyeing Krosserdog. The dog-type gave a long 'uhhh...' of hesitation. Terror-Wulf backed up a step and put up her fists.

**"Of course I have! You wanna go?"**

**"You don't have a medafighter,"** commented Samantha.

**"I've don't have - ... to have her around, because I was trained to remember certain strategies. Let's go."**

Krosserdog placed his feet into a fighting stance. **"Alright. I'll go easy on you, because you don't have your master guiding you."**

Terro-Wulf growled under her breath. _"I don't have a master!"_

Samantha began reading the essay that Spyke had gotten for her from inside his house, apparently uninterested.** "Peppercat, transport."**

A red cat-type appeared. She looked to Samantha for direction after briefly glancing at the wolf-type. "Watch the battle. Pick up some info on how the brown one fights - could be useful for later." Then she sat down and began correcting some errors. The red cat stood, placid.

**"Okay, Krosserdog. Shoot for the shoulder!"**

Terror-Wulf stared at the blue dog-type as he raised his shooting arm, stepping easily out of the way. He'd just shouted his tactic for her to hear ... didn't that defeat the purpose?

The sienna bot raised her own firing arm, shooting three shots toward the middle of the blue dog-type. The first hit him squarely, and, as he fell back, the second caught his shoulder - the third barely missed the same spot, for he'd fallen out of range. Wulf was upon him in the blink of an eye, lunging to land on top and secure her legs around her opponent so that she could pummel his upper body. As she landed, hands thrusting to push down his shoulders, a luckily placed leg on Krosserdog's part caught her squarely on her right hip.

A wave of fuzziness overwhelmed her circuits, causing the medabot to topple off with a moan, putting her hand to the side and steadying herself as Spyke's dog-type righted himself and aimed. Wulf stood, unwilling to take such an easy shot, but tilted and swayed as she moved to the side, lacking any and all luster. She wobbled before falling to her knees. Right. How could she have forgotten?

**"Wait,"** she croaked, muffled behind a hiss of static over her vocal processors. **"I'm not supposed to be robattling."**

Samantha didn't look up. Spyke gave a snort of discontent. **"Well why did you start if you weren't going to finish!"**

Krosserdog, on the other hand, looked slightly relieved that the battle had ended in something of a stalemate. He offered the fallen wolf-type a hand, but the stubborn rogue stood with her own strength, though shook slightly.

**"Well, that was stupid. I'll see you at dinner Peppercat, transport."** The red medabot vanished in a flash of light, leaving Samantha with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

**"Spyke, lets take this inside."**

**"What? Why don't we find the medafighter?"**

**"Because. It's hot out. Besides, what if there's a reward? We'll wait for flyers to go up first."**

**"Good thinking Boss."**

Wulf would have interrupted their plot with an instant cash-cut-off, but her head was a mix of static and white noise, and a strange humming. It only started to dim when she felt an arm around her shoulders.

**"This way, please,"** guided Krosserdog as Spyke and Samantha took the lead.** "My master might be able to fix you a bit. He's gotten very good at fixing medabots, seeing as I see a lot of damage."**

Terror-Wulf didn't know whether to be more pitying of his 'master' comment or the idea that he was often injured. **"Why do you call him that? He's not your _master_," **asked Wulf with unintentional quietness. She had no quails with addressing the idea at full volume, humans nearby or not, but right now it felt as though speaking too loudly would break her servers. The sienna bot leaned into the similarly proportioned dog-type selfishly, not particularly aware of the tension Krosserdog adopted.

**"He is. He is my very best friend, but I am also indebted to him for buying me parts, and housing me, and everything. Without Spyke, I would -"**

**"-never have to worry about parts, because they wouldn't get destroyed in robattles he puts you in."**

Krosserdog frowned, looking at the stoic but unshakably icy she-bot.** "But I like robattling."**

They reached the door to Spyke's house - a tidy, non-descript blue building with a bland exterior, and the humans lead the way.

**"Krosserdog, could you take that medabot to my room? Boss and I are just going to make some lemonade."**

**"What is with humans and this _lemonade_?" **Wulf asked offhandedly, a deep curiosity marring her cool tone.

Krosserdog shrugged, helping the brown wolf-type down the hall. They emerged into a boy's room. There were medabot posters on the wall, and multiple framed photographs of Spyke and Krosserdog or Cyandog scattered throughout the room. **"My old body,"** explained the blue bot.

**"I guessed."** Terror-Wulf moved away from the dog-type's support and lost the shakiness almost instantly. She could hear the humans speaking below, readying 'lemonade'.

**"I sometimes wish I could taste,**" Krosserdog suddenly mentioned, looking thoughtful. He moved and sat on the ground, before looking up to see Wulf planting her mud-slathered tin on his master's bed.

**"O-o-oh! Er, please - would you be able to take a seat, er, with me? I mean, on the floor?"**

The she-bot crossed her arms stubbornly, offhandedly examining a canon. **"Why, pets not allowed on the furniture?"**

**"No, but you're quite dirty."**

Wulf tilted her head, and looking down, noted the mud now smeared on the bedspread around her brown flanks. **"Oops,"** she stated without true enthusiasm, though slipped off the mattress and took a seat on the floor, facing the dog-type.

**"What is your name?**" Krosserdog asked conversationally as Wulf snatched a wind-up medabot from beneath the bed. The sienna bot barely looked up at him before returning to the supposedly more interesting trinket.

**"Terror-Wulf, but Wulf is easier."**

Krosserdog gave a metallic laugh. **"Like Beowulf. I helped Spyke with some essays on that story just last month."**

Terror-Wulf stared.

The blue bot rolled his tinpet's shoulders, giving a more hesitant, appeasing laugh.

**"Would you like to go for a walk?"** Wulf asked bluntly, rousing a stutter from her companion.

**"If Spyke doesn't mind coming."**

**"Spyke doesn't have to come."**

**"... Well I must ask him if he would like to, and if I am allowed."**

Terror-Wulf sneered. Pathetic! Brainwashed in to being utter slaves. **"You shouldn't have to ask to do mundane things like walking around. If he wants you, he'll call you. Besides, Medabots have personalities and spirit for a reason - so we can make our own choices."**

Krosserdog folded his arms. **"I will ask my master, and if he says yes then I will come with you."**

The sienna bot shuffled closer intentionally, causing the dog-type to try and wiggle discreetly away. She didn't buy it. **"Come on ... don't you want to do something fun? Your whole life is orders. He's just getting a drink, and I'm sure he doesn't want to be disturbed with your simple questions. He'd probably say_ 'Krosserdog, you know I'd say yes. Now I have to remake this lemonade because it sat here for a moment too long._' "**

Krosserdog looked a bit iffed by this, and for a moment Terror-Wulf wondered if her tactless reasoning had been overruled. But then the blue bot unfolded his arms and stood. **"Fine. But if I get in trouble then I'm saying you forced me."**

Wulf looked mildly gleeful. Krosserdog grabbed a pencil from Spyke's homework and wrote a rough note that he left on the pillow, then made for the door - which gave the brown she-bot enough time to snatch the note and crumple it up before tossing it under the bed and following him.

**"Let's go out this way,"** she murmured as Krosserdog looked to the front door, her own heterochromatic eyes trained on the sliding glass door through the parent's room. Before the dog-type could ask why, she strode across the carpet and yanked it open with only a gentle grind from the tracks. As soon as Krosserdog was through and closing it behind them, Terror-Wulf darted out of the yard and disappeared in to the underbrush.

* * *

Well, you can sortof get a shot of Terror Wulf's head if you go to deviantart. I'm cavada on there, and she's my icon ^^; as soon as I get a scanner, her pictures go up.


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